I’ve just completed a chapter of my forthcoming evolution of quality TV book (fifthcoming, at the very latest), a chapter devoted to TV war series, from Combat! to Generation Kill and The Pacific. This 1998 Steven Spielberg-Tom Hanks movie is an important part of that continuum, and not only because they collaborated once again for Band of Brothers and The Pacific. Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan, starring Hanks, redefined the intensity of war dramas, and the masterful opening sequen

2015

Dec

GIGI By David Bianculli

Even toned down for the era, this 1958 screen musical is quite surprising, given its subject matter: Leslie Caron plays a young – very young – “courtesan in training,” learning to cater to the whims of weathy, usually elderly men. And when Maurice Chevalier sings “Thank Heaven for Little Girls” in this context, he’s not singing about tiny tykes in baby carriages. Louis Jourdan co-stars.

2015

Dec

THE 38TH ANNUAL KENNEDY CENTER HONORS By David Bianculli

This TV tradition, one of the best and most rewarding shows of the holiday season each year, has been turned over to a new set of producers – but there’s no hiding, or ruining, the talent on hand as the Kennedy Center honors five major contributors to the arts. (Creative contributors, not financial ones.) This year’s honorees include George Lucas, Cicely Tyson, Seiji Ozawa, Rita Moreno, and Carole King. Just off the top of my head, I think it may be the first time the women hon

2015

Dec

INSIDE THE NFL By David Bianculli

With everything that happened this weekend, from New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick’s surprising overtime coin-toss decision to the Carolina Panthers’ fumbling of its perfect record, there will be a lot to discuss tonight. And with New York Jets star Brandon Marshall among the regulars, his insights, especially into the victory over the Patriots, ought to be very entertaining.

2015

Dec

AMAZON'S 'MOZART IN THE JUNGLE' SWINGS BACK INTO ACTION By David Hinckley

In a television age that has not been kind to the half-hour comedy, Mozart In the Jungle becomes even more of a keeper in its second season than it was in its first...

2015

Dec

LOST IN TRANSLATION By David Hinckley

Imagine for a moment that Michelle Dockery’s Lady Mary on Downton Abbey isn’t an entitled British royal, but an entitled young American... That’s what Stephen Colbert has done by hosting this inspired bit where Dockery, Hugh Bonneville and Allen Leech read a scene from a Season 5 Downton episode in American accents...

2015

Dec

THE SHINING By David Bianculli

The only good thing about TV’s dead week, between Christmas and New Year’s, is how many networks fill the time by programming good movies and better double features. Here’s an example of both. Sundance showed this 1980 Stanley Kubrick film in prime time recently – last night, in fact, as recently as you can get – but tonight it leads off a double feature of horror films, followed at 9 p.m. ET by 1973’s The Exorcist. The two scariest movies ever made, shown as

2015

Dec

RAGING BULL By David Bianculli

Here’s another strong prime-time double feature of movies, this time showcasing two of Robert De Niro’s most classic performances. The action, and there’s lots of it, begins at 8 p.m. ET with Martin Scorsese’s 1980 Raging Bull, and concludes at 10:10 ET with the same director’s Taxi Driver, made four years earlier.

2015

Dec

THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION By David Bianculli

This isn’t a double feature, but doesn’t have to be: This 1994 adaptation of the Stephen King story, starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman, is a fantastic viewing experience all by itself.

2015

Dec

HEROIN: CAPE COD, USA By David Bianculli

How did heroin resurface to become such a popular and pervasive drug recently, even (especially?) among the young and middle class? This HBO documentary sets out to answer that question – but focusing on eight young addicts, all in their twenties, residing in Cape Cod.

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